Bred for war
by DragonsWhisper
Summary: Konoha has been taken over by outsiders. Team 7 is left to take over control and fight for their home. Bodies are piling up, resources are running low. Naruto is breaking under the pressure and people are losing faith but power arrives when the lives of those you love hang in the balance. Post-war. Slight AU. Future gore.
1. Chapter 1

_Well, this is my first multi-chapter fic. I am so nervous with how this will turn out but I decided it was time it was posted. It might start out slightly confusing but it'll all come together in the end. I don't usually work with pairings but I'm open to any pairing suggestions or even if you think there shouldn't be any parings. There are a few OCs but they are really only there for background proposes. I'll try keep the main Ocs realistic and interesting as best I can. Rated M for later gore in the story. I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes I've tried to get rid of all of them but I might have missed some.  
Please review if you want, no flames unless they have constructive criticism.  
I do not own Naruto or any of the characters._

Desolate. That was the only word Haruno Sakura could use to describe her home. She crouched vigilantly on the rough bark of a tree on the outskirts of the village. Her emerald eyes watched a pair of horse and riders stride through the worn streets.

She backed up further into the green vegetation to avoid being spotted. The riders vanished behind the building of the Konoha hospital and Sakura felt her old fury rekindle. They had taken the hospital away from her and the people who needed it and yet they showed no compassion to the silent building.

A sweeping wave of depression threatened to burn out her anger. Sakura had failed and she knew it. She failed everyone because she was the one who was meant to protect the hospital and its inhabitants but now she sat, forlornly, looking at the building thinking about how her mistakes had lead her patients to lose a haven, that had taken years to build, in only one night.

Sakura was jerked out of her musings by the buzzing of an insect flying past her ear. She watched the insect closely. The beetle hummed twice once it landed in a twig near the green-eyed ninja's face. When it waddled in a circle providing Sakura with the proof it was one of Shino's.

The blue and red beetle was most likely sent out to tell Sakura to meet up with the rest of the group. She hoped that the others had had better luck at finding a weakness in their enemy then she had otherwise this mission would be another dud.

Casting a final glance toward the abandoned houses being patrolled by soldiers on horseback, she slipped through the under-growth of the tree like a starving feline. Keeping slow, soft steps she made her way towards the discussed meeting point for the other ninja on the Intel team.

Dropping into the thorn-enclosed clearing, Sakura took in the sight of the ninja who'd been sent out on this mission. There were five ninja excluding Sakura, Shino and Ino on the mission. They had been dispatched that morning by Naruto for the sixtieth time since the village was stolen from their control.

"Find anything?" A female voice asked Sakura. The Haruno turned to face Ino.

Ino stood proudly in front of her friend. She had grown out her platinum blonde hair since the war. The female had been nominated as the head of the Intel division four days after the remaining people of the Leaf had gone into hiding. Sakura had severely doubted Naruto's decision to place Ino in a position with that much responsibility but Ino had proved her wrong by setting up missions that went out to try discover more information about their current enemy.

Sakura shook her head, "The security rounds have changed again. They took the main road through the village then circled the hospital before heading east."

The Yamanake clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"If the guards keep changing it will be nearly impossible to break in no matter what the goal of the plan is." She muttered touching her chin while glaring at the ground.

Shino walked up to the two conversing females and stood awaiting orders from Ino. Sakura grimaced when she saw a bug disappear under the male's pale skin. No matter how many times she worked with Shino she could not get over the fact he had live insects crawling around her skin. She wondered vaguely, while Ino was lost in thought about the next step in the mission, if her dislike of insects stemmed from the amount of times she had amputated limbs only to find pale maggots eating the rotting flesh of a live human.

Ino brushed her platinum blonde hair out her face and spoke loudly, catching the attention of the other five ninja wondering around the clearing, "Let's head back. We'll head back to Base and report to Uzamaki all the information gathered. Scatter!" She commanded causing each ninja to explode upward into the trees.

They bounded in the direction of Base. The artificially created labyrinth of tunnels the remaining inhabitants of Konoha had constructed shortly after the Avalons, a large group of people who had arrived by boat from across the sea and stolen the village. Base had become a place of safety and was lead by Uzamaki Naruto

The blonde had assumed leadership of Base after Tsunade was killed by the Prowler's and Kakashi was taken hostage along with a large number of other ninja. Naruto had stepped out of the grieving and frightened crowd of people and organised to create Base as means of protection until a fail-safe plan had been created. Although people urged him, Naruto had refused to take the title of Hokage because he said this is not the way his dream had panned out in his childhood.

Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru had created team to help the village get back on its feet. Each team was assigned a leader which reported directly to Naruto as often as needed. The program worked but the ninja were short on man-power. A large portion of ninja had been captured or killed and outside help could not get into the fire-country because of the prowler's barrier of chakra and keepers, massive winged-snake creatures that guarded the border of the country and killed anyone who ventured to close to them. The Prowler's had taken the method divide and conquer to a whole new level and Konoha was suffering because of it.

* * *

Uzamaki Naruto sat, head cradled in his right hand, staring at the large map of konoha that smothered the large stone table in the centre of the cave room. The walls that supported the low rock ceiling had shelves cut into their faces. Books, maps and scrolls lined to otherwise bland room. The area was large enough to easily fit in a hundred adults. There were three bare doorways that created intervals the rough granite.

Uchiha Sasuke leaned against the table next to the blonde. He methodically cleaned his sword's blade. The metal glinted occasionally as the light from the lamps jumped off the smooth surface.

"Until Yamanaka's team arrives, staring at that map will accomplish nothing." Sasuke drawled not faltering in his work.

Naruto lifted his pounding head and frowned at his best friend, "I know that, bastard, but it is a thousand times better than doing nothing when I know I should be doing something." Naruto dropped his head on the table, the impact resonated dully in the room, "Damn it! I hate sitting here and not knowing what's going on out there. Sakura could be in danger."

Sasuke held his sword up at eye level. After scrutinizing the object carefully he closed his miss-match eyes and re-sheathed his sword. He crossed his arms over his broad chest before speaking again, "Stop complaining, the team is due to arrive soon and aren't you the one always telling me to put more faith in Sakura?"

The blue-eyed man grumbled loudly and massaged his temples all the while keeping his head firmly attached to the table.

"Uchiha Sasuke," A tall woman strode into the room and stood in front of Sasuke. Her red hair fell over her thin shoulders as she bowed deeply before the last Uchiha, the head guard on Base, "The Intel team has arrived and is waiting for inspection outside." She informed the apathetic male.

"Sakura's back?" Naruto asked lifting his head quickly and suppressing a groan as his headache protested at the fast movement. He couldn't wait until he could flop down into his cot and hopefully sleep off this headache.

Sasuke remained silent as he pushed himself away from the table and walked with quick, measured steps out of the room. He turned down multiple hallways heading to the entrance of Base. As the head of security and the only person with the sharingan he was required to make sure it was really their ninja entering the Base and not one of the intruders who had taken over the village.

Naruto rolled his eyes at his anti-social friend and followed him, eager to get some news about what was happening outside of Base.

Squinting as they stepped into the mottled sunlight, Sasuke and Naruto, lead by the red-haired female, ambled towards the waiting ninjas. Sakura smiled gently at Naruto when she saw him coming towards her. Naruto returned the smile with his signature grin.

Sasuke mentally took count of the team. Every member who had been sent out that morning had returned sweaty and tired but alive and unharmed. Activating his sharingan, he looked at each member individually watching for any anomalies in their chakra before moving onto the next awaiting ninja.

"Clear."

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the small group of ninja past the inspection. Ino dismissed her team telling them to get some rest and they had done well today. With tired smiles and snorts of arrogance the jounin ranked ninja fed into a small tunnel that led to the living areas of Base.

* * *

The four ninja made their way back to the meeting room. The map of Konoha still remained open on the table. Taking a seat on one of the hard wooden chairs that surrounded the table, Ino slowly began to give her report on their mission outside of Base. She told Team 7 about the mass grave situated just outside of the prison grounds had been discovered by her and Shino. She spoke evenly as she recited the number of malnourished bodies in the pit and how many were Shinobi, civilians and unidentifiable.

Ino mentioned none of the bodies were that of Hatake Kakashi, much to the relief of her friends. Kakashi along with Ibiki and Gai were among the other hundred people being held and most likely tortured for information in their village's own prison. Each time a new mass grave was discovered the trio feared the name of their teacher would be on the list

After an hour of the Yamanaka giving a detailed description, with Sakura making notes in her book for future reference and records, she left the room to go wash the stale sweat that was clinging to her well-toned body.

The room fell into tense silence with the absence of the blonde female. Sakura fiddled with the edge of her glove while she waited for someone to speak. Naruto broke the pregnant pause with a loud groan and a thump as he dropped his head to the table again.

Sasuke and Sakura watched the blonde with varying outward signs of concern. "Naruto," Sakura whispered, her jade eyes shimmering with concern for her friend.

While Naruto was the light of the village and naturally flamboyant; this fight was taking a heavy toll on him. He blamed himself for the capture of the villagers. He also hated having to remain cooped up inside the labyrinth of tunnels instead of fighting outside.

The blonde let out another groan, "We have been fighting for six months. That's half a year and yet we are absolutely no closer to taking back our home."

Sakura sighed, "We just need to find something that is stronger than them then we can beat the Avalons. The Intel team is working very hard to-"

Naruto cut Sakura off ,"Something stronger than them?" He raised his tired eyes to stare at her face with intense blue eyes, "That 'something' is Kurama. That is our village's biggest asset and it hasn't helped us."

"Naruto." Sasuke warned but Naruto continued speaking.

Naruto snorted, "The leader will take Kurama from me with the stone-thing. I don't mind dying for the village but I can't do it if I know it's in vain, ya' know?" Naruto's voice had softened considerably by the end of his sentence.

"Naruto we know we can't use a tailed-beasts against these people. I'm sure there is another way. Besides, you can't die that's just not who you are." Sakura tried to console with the male.

Naruto offered a smile and lowered his head onto the table, "When he used that stone, Kurama was nearly taken from me again. I...I was back facing Madara, watching a part of me getting ripped away."

"That's why you will not use the kyuubi's power against Masaru." Sasuke spoke. His monotone voice vibrating in his chest, "We can't risk losing you. We don't have enough information on the stone at the moment. We will stay hidden until we have a fail-safe plan then we will attack even if we can't have Kyuubi for back-up."

Naruto raised his head again, "Got it all figured out, hey bastard?" He offered his friend a watery smile.

Sakura watched her teammates in silence. She knew that Naruto would hide his pain from his friends until it became too much and killed him inside. That's just who Naruto was. He didn't want to burden his friends with problems he expected himself to be able to handle.

But with some of the villages best ninja being held hostage, the Avalons' leader in possession of a stone which could harvest and contain the power of a tailed-beast, the lack of outside support from other villages and the waning supplies and sanitation for the remaining people at Base, Sakura was starting to doubt their ability to win this battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A red-eyed child raced through the mahogany corridors of a Konoha inn. The seven-year-old ducked behind a wall and tensed his small body as an imaginary enemy almost spotted him in the devastated war ground. The boy drew out a long roll of paper, which served as his mighty sword, from his belt and took a deep breath. In his mind's eye he could see his enemy passing the battle field and searching for him, the single most powerful soldier to ever live.

Jumping out from behind wall he prepared himself to battle his opponent only to be met with the kind face of his loving care-taker. "Dear me, Rei. Didn't you just give me one hell of a fright?" The chubby woman laughed, her bright red curls of hair bounced on her shoulders.

Rei's fabricated battle field faded away like morning mist. His enemy fell into the shadows cast by the inn's lights. Rei smiled; slightly disappointed his game had come to an abrupt end but happy to see Miss Shouta's smiling, pink face.

"Sorry Miss," Rei replied looking slightly sheepish, "I was given orders from Papa to rid the land of ninja and everyone knows that only the quietest warriors can sneak up on a ninja."

"Is that so? Well, a soldier cannot fight on an empty stomach so why don't you eat some supper? Your father should be arriving soon." Miss Shouta replied rubbing the boy's soft hair. She led Rei down the corridor to take him to the dining room.

"What's for dinner?"

"Well Rei, I heard it's meant to be roasted fish and salad."

Rei grimaced and pouted as he continued to follow the chirpy woman.

Rei Cretus was son and only child of Masaru. The boy held a son's pride for his father and aspired to become like him when he grew-up; a great man who selflessly removed ninja from lands in order to save the inhabitants from oppression.

Rei's mother had died when he was very young. He wasn't sure why she died; he only knew it was forbidden to talk about. Heart-broken and over-protective, Masaru took Rei and Miss Shouta to every land he ventured to. Unable to make true friends because he moved so often, Rei had developed an advanced imagination to keep him company.

The boy walked down the wooden staircase until he felt a strange prickling sensation at the back of his neck. The child paused in mid-stride and turned to look behind him. The halls remained still and undisturbed like they were supposed to be but Rei continued to stare behind himself.

"Come on child, the food will not eat itself." Miss Shouta chided when she realized the brown-haired child was not following her like a shadow as he usually did when food was mentioned.

Rei glanced once behind his shoulder before shrugging and told himself the feeling was his imagination trying to get him to play soldier again. He smiled brightly at Miss Shouta and hopped down the stairs like an unsteady colt and jogged into the dining room for food.

* * *

"The inn on Main Street." Ino said strongly tapping her slender finger on a map of her home village. "That's were Masaru is residing this week."

Naruto leaned over the map, his hair falling into his face, "How reliable is your information?"

Ino grinned at the male when he looked up to study her face, "As certain as I am that you like ramen."

Naruto stared at the girl for a bit before bursting out laughing, "Well I can't argue with that."

Sasuke continued to glare at the map for a bit, "Masaru only returns in the evening?" he asked.

Ino nodded, "His family stays there as well and the guards rotate after every hour giving us a window period of three minutes to get in there, grab a hostage and get out."

"This is the biggest opportunity we've had in months so we must take it, as troublesome and risky as it is." Shikamaru muttered standing, next to the Uchiha, with his arms behind his head.

Naruto nodded sobering up from his laughing fit, "Tonight. A team will hit the place. Grab a hostage and leave," Naruto turned to his friend, "Who is best suited for that kind mission, Shikamaru?"

The brunette sighed loudly unhappy with having to work but closed his eyes and grabbed his chin as the other three occupants of the room watched him with varying degrees of intensity. The Nara frowned as he thought of endless scenarios, complications and able-bodied ninja. His mind submerged itself into information on each possible team member's weakness, strengths and adaptability. The base's supply of ninja was too small for casualties and he had to guarantee each one would survive and be capable to fight again the next day if the need should arise.

"The team should be," Shikamaru spoke, his eyes still closed, "Inuzuka Kiba and Akumaru, Rock Lee and Uchiha Sasuke."

The latter cast his harsh gaze onto Shikamaru, "Why me? If I die Base is insecure."

The two blonde occupants of the room nodded in agreements. Sasuke was irreplaceable at this point in time. His extra precautions while occasionally unnecessary and overzealous, is what had kept everyone at base safe so far.

"But you won't die." Shikamaru stated simply, "You adapt easily to any battle situation. Should you encounter a fighting style we don't know you can report back on it flawlessly thanks to your damned sharingan. You also have enough power to be able to get away from any of the Avalon guards. Akumaru and Kiba can tell you if you are going to be ambushed thanks to their sense of smell and like it or not your Taijustsu style is in sync with Lee's because you have memorized his style. Also the team cannot be large because it might attract attention. So you'll fit perfectly on the team."

"hn." Was the only reply to the strategist's monologue.

Details of the plan were worked out carefully over the next hour after Ino collected the previously nominated team members. Operation Hostage capture, its name curtesy of Rock lee, was to be initiated immediately. The team was ordered to get ready for the worst-case scenario and be at the entrance of base in twenty minutes.

Naruto followed Sasuke to his room to get ready for the mission. "Hey bastard, how we meant to know if it's really you guys coming back and not some impostors without your sharingan to say?"

Sasuke didn't even lift his head as he scrutinized his kunai before placing them in his holster, "The Sharingan can't be faked so as long as I show you the Sharingan you can be certain it's us."

Naruto handed his friend a bunch of throwing needles, which were promptly concealed in the bandages and sleeves of Sasuke's uniform. Naruto let out a dramatized groan before flopping onto the Uchiha's bed, "It's unfair you guys get to go out and do a mission while I'm stuck in here."

The raven haired male 'accidentally' dropped his word on the blonde's head causing Naruto to grunt and sit back up to yell half-thought out insults at his friend. Sasuke smirked and tied the offending sword onto his belt, "You must stay safe. You're the only one keeping these people from losing their minds to fear."

* * *

Rock Lee, Kiba, Akumaru and Sasuke bounded through the trees that Konoha was named after. They swung from the branches with practiced grace and power.

Kiba and Akumaru sniffed the air constantly to keep tabs on anyone nearby who might try to ambush them. If the plan went well, Kiba would stay outside hidden into the trees as a scout to alert the others, who were to go and collect a hostage, if there was any danger near-by.

As the team came to rest in the trees outside the mission's target building, Lee's body shook with barely suppressed anticipation of being able to go on a mission after such a long time of being cooped up at Base.

Sasuke, the elected team leader, crouched low on a swaying branch as he studied the guards standing outside the inn. The sentries of the building remained stone-still for another twelve minutes before glancing up at the sun.

The guards relaxed their stance and walked away from the doorway like well-programmed robots. Sasuke's eyes followed them until the disappeared around the corner of the building. He waited for another several seconds before giving the hand signs to tell his team to start the mission. The team nodded before leaping off the trees' branches. Kiba remained hidden and kept watch, praying that this mission would be successful.

* * *

Rei jumped happily into his wooden seat at the end of table and inhaled deeply. The familiar scents of spice and fish wafted through the doors that lead into the spacious kitchen. Although he did not care for fish or salad for that matter, he was famished and knew he had to eat all his supper if he wanted chocolate cake for dessert.

Miss Shouta placed a frosted glass of water in front of the boy and waddled into the kitchen. Sipping contently at the cool liquid, Rei watched the wall opposite him in fascination as the shadows of the branches outside, cast from the sunset's glow, danced elaborately to the wind.

The front door of the inn opened slowly, casting a river of cold sunlight on Rei as his heart leapt around in his chest. The child rejoiced internally that his father was home early and would be able to eat with him. The sparkle in Rei's eyes flickered out like a candle in a blizzard.

While the man that entered through the door was as tall as the boy's father, he most certainly was not the man who had been wished for. Rei stared, captivated by the poppy red eyes that locked onto his duller ones.

Rei opened his mouth to scream for help but his body wouldn't move, it was as if he was locked in a spell. He gulped as the man took another for steps closer, his eyes never leaving the younger's face.

A crash of porcelain reached Rei's ears but the sound was muffled as if travelling over a long distance.

"Get away from him!" Miss Shouta's shrill voice shrieked from behind Rei. The raven haired man did not move nor did he give any sign he had even heard the desperate woman's cry. A massive canine appeared from behind the man and walked into the middle of the room. The hound walked around the male and lowered its head, baring its massive teeth for everyone to see.

The white dog snarled when Miss Shouta shouted again and moved to stand in front Masaru's son, his lean muscle vibrating with the sound. The hound bolted forward and snapped at the screaming woman's legs before jumping to the left to avoid being impaled by a butcher's knife.

The cook who had thrown the knife stepped back when the dog growled at him and snapped his jaws in a threatening gesture.

Rei's eyes began feeling heavy and dry from staring at the black-clad male standing in the doorway for so long. He questioned his sanity when a green figure whisked around the room punching and kicking with unrestrained fury. Rei became faintly aware that the screaming had stopped and that the red-eyed man was walking towards him. A whistle sounded from outside, and before Rei could react he was picked up by the man and falling into the caring, black hands of unconsciousness.

Miss Shouta squinted through her hazy vision to watch her young charge and the two ninja and the dog vanish into the trees just outside the inn. She became aware of the shouting of guards who had run into the room to see what the commotion was. Miss Shouta looked to her side to see the cook lying on the floor, his neck shredded and oozing blood onto the floor.

A guard came in line with her swimming vision. He looked like he was trying to tell her something but for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to try and understand the words that were reaching her ears. Miss Shouta closed her eyes as a wave of vertigo washed over her and she vaguely wondered if her eyes would ever open again.

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not, sadly, own Naruto or any of its characters._

 _Firstly, thank you so very much to everyone who Favorited and followed this story it means a lot to me. Secondly, I apologize for any spelling a or grammar mistakes. I've tried my best to find and fix all of them but I'm not sure I have completed that task successfully. If you have anything to say about this story, whether its good or bad or how to improve my writing please review.  
Also I will use mainly English terminology because I do not speak Japanese and do not wish the butcher the language. I hope to be able to update soon but life does not always let me so I'm not sure when chapter three will be put up.  
Thanks to everyone who is reading this fic.  
See you next time, bye_


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